


valentine's day blues

by hailingstars



Series: unbelievably unlikely (febuwhump 2020) [11]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Peter gets sick on valentine's day, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Unfortunate, Valentine's Day, febuwhump 2020, he's thrilled about it, irondad to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22699576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hailingstars/pseuds/hailingstars
Summary: “I’m not babysitting, kid,” he told him. “Just keeping you company.”“That’s the same thing I tell Morgan when you and Pepper trick me into watching her.”“Yeah, well,” said Mr. Stark. He sat down on the couch last to him and put his hand on his forehead, just the way May had. “I’m pretty sure you stole that line from me. How’re you feeling? Fever’s still pretty bad.”ORPeter gets sick on Valentine's Day, and Tony keeps him company.Febuwhump day 13: unfortunate
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: unbelievably unlikely (febuwhump 2020) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619662
Comments: 30
Kudos: 281





	valentine's day blues

**Author's Note:**

> this one is a short little guy but it's day 13 and I'm tiirrreeeddddd
> 
> hope you enjoy!!

Red hearts, cut out from construction paper in Morgan’s kindergarten class, hung down from the ceiling, in front of the window. Outside snow fell. The pretty kind. The kind that, if Peter gave the window a closer look, made Queens seemed like it was stuck inside a snow globe.

The view taunted him, as he sat on the couch in his living room, wrapped up in a heated blanket but somehow still shivering.

They liked to joke about Parker luck, him and May, whenever the fridge broke or the dryer fried their clothes or the couple who liked to stay up arguing kept them from sleeping at night. They liked to tell jokes about their misfortune but joking about catching the flu in time for Valentine’s Day was not something Peter was ready to joke about.

Just figured his first Valentine’s Day actually having a girlfriend he’d be miserable and sick and contagious and unable to stand without wobbling around on his legs with dizziness.

“Are you sure you want us to go to the party without you?” asked Ned, as Peter tried not to hack up his lung coughing. He kept his mouth inches away from the phone’s speaker.

“Y-yeah,” said Peter, regaining his breath. “You and MJ have fun.”

Someone should, besides May and Happy, that was.

“Oh Peter,” said May. She walked down the hallway, already dressed for her date with Happy. “Poor guy.” She got a Gatorade from the fridge and put it down on the coffee table.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself for the night?”

“Not five, May,” said Peter, tugging the blanket closer to his body, just as Happy was barging through their front door. “Have fun with Happy.”

“Your voice sounds awful, honey,” said May. She put a hand through his hair and rested it on his forehead.

“Yeah,” said Peter. “Your date looks pretty awful.”

Happy Hogan stood in front of them with a facemask strapped on his head, covering his nose and mouth. He, at least, had brought along a plastic container filled with his famous homemade chicken soup, just as promised. He sat it down on the coffee table, rather aggressively, and gave Peter a glare.

“You look like a clown.”

“At least my nose isn’t red like one,” said Happy, pointing at him. “Maybe if you’d worn a mask like me, you’d be skipping off to that little party with the scary girl.”

Peter turned and looked to his aunt. “It isn’t too late to cancel, May. I can cough on you if you’d rather have the flu.”

May laughed, asked him a couple more times if he needed anything, if he was sure he could manage on his own until the morning, and then finally and only at his insistence, Peter finally got them both to leave the apartment.

Truth was, Peter had been looking forward, in his own pathetic way, to the quiet. So he could be alone in his misery, and not spread it around to other people. If there was something he hated more than being sick, it was dragging other people down in his sickness.

Peter was a Parker, though, and he and May didn’t have their jokes about the family’s curse with bad luck because things went their way. Peter enjoyed his lonely misery for about thirty minutes before there was obnoxious banging on the door.

He threw his head back against the couch and groaned.

He knew, without getting up and taking a look through the peephole, that it was Mr. Stark on the other side. Recognized his heartbeat, and the way his feet shuffled around impatiently.

Peter shut his eyes and wished it away, but the knocking persisted, until finally, he heard a key turn in the lock and the door came open.

Mr. Stark walked in, carrying a humidifier in one hand and a giant, brown paper bag in the other.

“Mr. Stttarrkkkk,” Peter groaned, covering his mouth, suddenly glad Happy had thought to wear the facemask, no matter how ridiculous he looked. “What’re you doing here?”

“The love birds told me you were sick.”

“Ew. Gross. Don’t call them that.”

Mr. Stark chuckled as he walked further into the apartment. He placed the bag on the coffee table. “And since my sweet loving family has abandoned me during Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d keep you company.”

“I thought they were just visiting Pepper’s uncle.”

“Yes. Abandonment.”

Peter rolled his eyes as Mr. Stark plugged in the humidifier. “Don’t need a babysitter.”

“I’m not babysitting, kid,” he told him. “Just keeping you company.”

“That’s the same thing I tell Morgan when you and Pepper trick me into watching her.”

“Yeah, well,” said Mr. Stark. He sat down on the couch last to him and put his hand on his forehead, just the way May had. “I’m pretty sure you stole that line from me. How’re you feeling? Fever’s still pretty bad.”

Peter responded with a noise that landed somewhere between a growl and a groan that he thought answered the question well enough. He looked at Mr. Stark, waiting him to stay, but also, wanting him to leave. He was too sick to phrase his concerns in polite terms.

“Mr. Stark do you hafta be here right now?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m gonna make you sick,” warned Peter. “Should’ve brought a facemask like Happy.”

Mr. Stark barked a laugh. “Happy’s a clown, Pete, and besides, I’m a dad. I’m immune to your germs.”

“I don’t think that’s scientifically possible.”

“Are you questioning me? Me the literal genius?” asked Mr. Stark. “Me, who’s IQ is at least sixty points higher than yours?”

Peter groaned, too sleepy and sick to have that particular argument again. He was pretty sure Mr. Stark’s IQ was just forty points higher than his, that he always exaggerated for no good reason, but talking took energy and right then, Peter had none.

He burrowed his head into Mr. Stark’s side. If he wasn’t going to heed his warning and protect himself from getting sick, Peter may as well use him as a pillow. Call his bluff. Hoping that he stayed but also that he left.

Mr. Stark stayed plopped there on the couch and put his arm around him. “Truth is, kid, you’ll be doing the old man a favor. I’ve missed spending time together.”

Peter blinked against Mr. Stark’s shirt, wanting to say that was ridiculous, that they were always hanging out.

That he went and visited the lake house all the time, but the words died before they ever left his mouth. He tried and failed to remember the last time they worked on the car Mr. Stark would give him as a graduation present, or he went to have dinner with all three Starks.

“Mr. Stark I – “

“It’s okay, Pete,” said Mr. Stark. Peter couldn’t see his face, but he heard the smile in his voice. “We get it. You’re getting older. You wanna spend time with your scary girlfriend – “

“-why does everyone think MJ is scary?”

“Kid come on,” he said, with a laugh, as if it were a stupid question, before he went back to the previous topic. “I’ve just missed you.”

“Yeah,” said Peter. “I’ve missed you too.”

He hadn’t realized it was true until Mr. Stark had pointed it out. That somehow life had gotten busy, and he’d forgotten, and his life had gotten duller without the Starks in it.

The disconnect had been tricky, had snuck up on him, and there, with his fever riddled brain, he made a declaration.

“Never again,” said Peter.

Mr. Stark laughed and ruffled his hair. “Of course it’ll happen again, but I’ll still be here, when you need me.”

Peter supposed he could admit, just to himself, that this was one of those times. Misery loved company, after all, and although Peter hated the idea of dragging others down with him, Mr. Stark seemed determined to stay.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mr. Stark,” said Peter, letting his eyes drift shut, letting Mr. Stark continued to run his fingers through his hair.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Pete,” he said, the very last words he heard before he drifted off into rest.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading!!!! hope everyone has a GREAT Valentine's Day tomorrow and just a warning tomorrow's it's a little bit sad???????????? it's endgame compliant! but there's a wedding!!!!! :) 
> 
> kudos and/or comments let me know what you think 
> 
> [come yell at me on tumblr](https://hailing-stars.tumblr.com)


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